Embarrassed, but can you help me w/ this grammar Q.?

[Alicia64]

My grammar was atrocious as a kid. Today I've picked up helpful info. here and there. But jeez. . .

 

Anyway, my kids use David Dye's Standard Based Grammar. It's fine. Nothing flashy or fun. Anyway I was looking at my kids' grammar work last night and he's asking for them to identify "objects" or a "possessives," but doesn't explain what they are.

 

He talks about adverbs, prepositions, clauses, parts of speech (noun, pronoun, verb, adverb, adj., preposition, conjunction and interjection), but then launches into:

 

Put each pronoun from the box above in the correct section below. The three categories are "subject," "object," and "possessives."

 

In the box are a bunch of pronounces: we, your, them, she, me, their, you, whom etc.

 

There's no explanation at all re: what is an object? what is a possessive? None. I think it's an error in the book.

 

Anyhoo, can you help me explain this to my kids?

 

A billion thank you's!!

 

Alley

[Bootsie]

"Subject" would be if you are using the pronoun in the subject of the sentence--He is going to the store.

 

"Object" would be if you use the pronoun as the direct object in the sentence or as the object of a preposition.  Sally threw the ball to him.

 

"Possessive" would be if it is used as an adjective''--Bobby threw his ball.

[Lang Syne Boardie]

Alley, would you consider a different grammar curriculum? Your choice is not equipping you to teach grammar to your children.

 

That said, here's what the lesson is about:

 

There are subject pronouns (also called nominative pronouns) that you can recognize because they "sound right" when used as the subject of a sentence.

 

I, you, he, she, it, we, they

 

There are object nouns (also called objective pronouns) that you can recognize because they are correctly used as the direct object of a sentence.

 

me, you, him, her, it, us, them

 

Then the possessive pronouns show possession; IOW that something belongs to something or somebody.

 

my, mine, your, yours, his, hers, theirs, our, ours

 

 

[maize]

Subject: I, we, he, you: the person or thing that is doing something, the main person or thing the sentence is about.

 

Object: a person or thing that an action is taken with or towards. If I throw a ball, I am the subject and the ball is the object. If I throw a bal to you, you are also an objject, the object an action is toward. There are direct and indirect objects, don't know if you want to explain the difference? My understanding is that the ball is the direct object, I do something directly to it, and you are the indirect object if I throw or give the ball to you.

 

Possessive is easy: it means someone has or owns something.

 

For pronouns, I, you, he, she , it, and we can be used as subjects; we say I throw the ball, you throw, he throws, but not mine throw the ball, their throw the ball, them throw the ball...

 

Object: me, you, him, her, it, them (throw the ball to me, too him, to you...)

 

Posessive: my ball, your ball, her ball, their ball...

 

Note that some pronouns use the same form for subject and object: you, it.

[Alicia64]

Subject: I, we, he, you: the person or thing that is doing something, the main person or thing the sentence is about.

 

Object: a person or thing that an action is taken with or towards. If I throw a ball, I am the subject and the ball is the object. If I throw a bal to you, you are also an objject, the object an action is toward. There are direct and indirect objects, don't know if you want to explain the difference? My understanding is that the ball is the direct object, I do something directly to it, and you are the indirect object if I throw or give the ball to you.

 

Possessive is easy: it means someone has or owns something.

 

For pronouns, I, you, he, she , it, and we can be used as subjects; we say I throw the ball, you throw, he throws, but not mine throw the ball, their throw the ball, them throw the ball...

 

Object: me, you, him, her, it, them (throw the ball to me, too him, to you...)

 

Posessive: my ball, your ball, her ball, their ball...

 

Note that some pronouns use the same form for subject and object: you, it.

 

Thank you! Well, this is the first time I felt like the author put us in the woods. Everything else has had decent explanations. Do you have a grammar curriculum that you loved?

 

Your explanation is excellent, but it still doesn't help the kids do the work. He just gives a load of pronouns -- out of context -- and then asks the child to put them under "subject," "object," "possessive." Without the full sentence: how would one do this??

 

Thanks again,

 

Alley

 

[Alicia64]

I'm actually thinking of calling the author and asking about this. These pages seem to be full errors.

 

Can you give me a definition for "object" and "possessive?" In later pages, he asks questions with pronouns in context. Only that one page made zero sense.

 

I know I sound like a ding dong.

 

Thank you,

 

Alley

 

 

[Lang Syne Boardie]

I'm actually thinking of calling the author and asking about this. These pages seem to be full errors.

 

Can you give me a definition for "object" and "possessive?" In later pages, he asks questions with pronouns in context. Only that one page made zero sense.

 

I know I sound like a ding dong.

 

Thank you,

 

Alley

 

You don't sound like a ding dong! You sound like a person who has never studied nominative and objective case pronouns, which places you in company with most of the nation. :)

 

Although I don't know why he didn't teach the lesson, I do know why he's not giving them these pronouns in context. It's because the context doesn't matter. A nominative case pronoun is always going to be recognizable -- I, you, he, she, it, we, they.

 

But that doesn't help you to know why. You need proper lessons for your children with a teacher's manual that you can understand.

 

My favorite program, if you can stand the tedium and the constant farm and biblical references, is Rod and Staff. The teacher's guide is very, very thorough. You can teach yourself the lesson, and then teach your children the next day.

[Bootsie]

Thank you! Well, this is the first time I felt like the author put us in the woods. Everything else has had decent explanations. Do you have a grammar curriculum that you loved?

 

Your explanation is excellent, but it still doesn't help the kids do the work. He just gives a load of pronouns -- out of context -- and then asks the child to put them under "subject," "object," "possessive." Without the full sentence: how would one do this??

 

Thanks again,

 

Alley

 

If you have a particular pronoun--take "them"--you can make up a sentence and see how it would be used.  You cannot use "Them" as the subject of a sentence.  "Them went to the store" would not be correct.  You also could not use it as a possessive--"We went to them house."--would be incorrect.  You can use it as the object of a preposition.  "We gave the ball to them."--would be correct.

 

Have your children studied direct objects?  prepositional phrases (identifying the object of the preposition)?  indirect objects?  if not, this is probably not going to make sense to them.  

[Haiku]

Your explanation is excellent, but it still doesn't help the kids do the work. He just gives a load of pronouns -- out of context -- and then asks the child to put them under "subject," "object," "possessive." Without the full sentence: how would one do this??

 

Make up sentences and try fitting the different words in. For example: "I took the dog for its walk." Would it work to say Him took the dog? Nope. That's because him is an object. You would have to say he, which is a subject. Would it make sense to say "I took the dog for he walk?" Nope again. You would have to use his. His is possessive; it tells whose walk. What about "I took he for its walk"? Wrong again. He is a subject. The subject of this sentence is I, and the object of the action would be him.

 

Common pronouns in their subject, object, possessive forms:

 

I, me, my

you, you, your

she, her, her

he, him, his

it, it, its

we, us, our

they, them, their

[Haiku]

Also, if you are satisfied that the book you are using generally explains things well enough for you to understand, I would at least invest in a good grammar reference book so that you can look up things you encounter that you don't understand.

[Reefgazer]

I agree with this.  I also had atrocious grammar instruction as a child and would not have been equipped to handle these questions without some guidance in grammar.  I suggest Rod and Staff English; it has taught me and my children well.  In fact, I was able to answer your questions about grammar (I didn't, because others already have), despite the fact that I started out only knowing what a noun, verb, adjective, and adverb were. 

Alley, would you consider a different grammar curriculum? Your choice is not equipping you to teach grammar to your children.

 

That said, here's what the lesson is about:

 

There are subject pronouns (also called nominative pronouns) that you can recognize because they "sound right" when used as the subject of a sentence.

 

I, you, he, she, it, we, they

 

There are object nouns (also called objective pronouns) that you can recognize because they are correctly used as the direct object of a sentence.

 

me, you, him, her, it, us, them

 

Then the possessive pronouns show possession; IOW that something belongs to something or somebody.

 

my, mine, your, yours, his, hers, theirs, our, ours

 

[Haiku]

I do know why he's not giving them these pronouns in context. It's because the context doesn't matter. A nominative case pronoun is always going to be recognizable -- I, you, he, she, it, we, they.

 

Right. A subject pronoun is always a subject pronoun and an object pronoun is always an object. You can't start a sentence with an object in place of the subject. That's why things like "Him and me are going to the store" sound so wrong.

[Alicia64]

Right. A subject pronoun is always a subject pronoun and an object pronoun is always an object. You can't start a sentence with an object in place of the subject. That's why things like "Him and me are going to the store" sound so wrong.

 

I think we finally got it! I also emailed the guy and said, "hey, send me the missing pages please." (I said it nicer than that.)

 

Pinterest has some amazingly helpful grammar sites too.

 

Thank you so much!

 

Alley